Introduction:This is a detailed Rules Guide to STAR WARS, a game by Data East. You will first be taken through the various shots and targets on the playfield, along with scoring and the modes/bonuses associated with each (modes/bonuses are highlighted in blue). Each mode or bonus will be explained in detail on how to obtain, the scoring, additional thoughts and other general noteworthy items. Default and adjustable settings will be discussed to the best of my knowledge in order to provide insight on how to adjust certain aspects of the game. Finally, the last section will discuss other miscellaneous features STAR WARS offers.

DISCLAIMER: All content is based on my personal STAR WARS machine that has a 1.05 CAN CPU ROM. Comments throughout the guide pertain to my personal experience with the pin and do not reflect this site's opinions. The scoring does assume factory settings; however, it does not appear that game play difficulty settings affect scoring .

The following abbreviations may be used throughout this guide: M for million, K for thousands, DS for Death Star, EOB for end of ball, JP for jackpot, and SJ for super jackpot.

I hope that all STAR WARS enthusiasts will enjoy and thoroughly use this guide. For questions or comments, please shoot me a message or leave a comment.

Shots & Targets:1) X-Wing Targets: These are the five spot targets around various parts of the playfield. Hitting each target for the first time awards 100K points, and 3,330 points for subsequent hits. Once all five are lit, 2M points are awarded and X-Mode is lit.

2) Drop Targets: These are the three drop targets by the entrance to the center ramp. These are worth 50,010 points individually, and 300K when all three are dropped. Once drop targets have been cleared three times, Hyper Space will be lit (completing Hyper Space also lights Yoda). Clearing all three in a very short amount of time will award an additional 1M points. Drop targets may also be part of the process for Lighting the Re-Launch.

3) Pop Bumpers: Most of the time, one hit to the pop bumpers adds 23,130K to the Sarlacc value. The Sarlacc value starts at 500K each ball, and can be collected via the Sarlacc pit. Pop bumpers are also integral targets for AT AT Walkers and Pop Millions modes.

4) Inner Orbit: This is the shot to the immediate right of the Death Star. C3PO’s Eye, Light the Force, Extra Ball, X-Mode and Yoda are collected here. This shot also begins the Combo.

6) Death Star: Hitting the yellow Death Star target will spot a moon that counts towards Tri-Ball. During Tri-Ball, this shot increases the jackpot and awards super jackpot. This shot is also used in Super Death Star mode.

7) Left Orbit: Awards a letter in STAR WARS, part of the process to Lighting the Re-Launch, awards Victory Lap, one of the shots in Jedi Return, part of the Combo, and awards current value in R2D2 Runaway and Super R2D2. Also, right in-lane to left orbit will award two letters in STAR WARS.

8) Center Ramp: The game will keep track of the number of times the center ramp is made either by ball or by game – I strongly recommend resetting the count each ball due to balance issues (See Alternative Settings section). The center ramp awards Millions, a letter in STAR WARS, is the jackpot shot in Tri-Ball, awards Hyper Space, integral part of Empire, part of the Combo, and lights Extra Ball depending on self adjusting settings. In addition, the 4th shot will light the force if not lit already. The 8th and 10th shot will light the force, or grant a force award if already lit. This pattern repeats again for the 14, 18th, and 20th shot, and so forth.

9) Right Orbit: Awards a letter in STAR WARS, awards Victory Lap, one of the shots in Jedi Return, and awards current value in R2D2 Runaway and Super R2D2. This is also the best shot to get the ball into the pop bumpers.

10) Slingshots: Besides slinging the ball into the out-lanes, these award 3,330 points with each hit.

11) Left Out-lane: Contains a Kickback feature (Re-Launch) and collects the Taun-Taun value.

12) Left In-lane: Lights Jabba’s bounty for a limited amount of time.

13) Right In-lane: Activates 2X for STAR WARS letters via the left orbit for a limited amount of time.

Skill ShotHow to obtain: Each ball launch starts with a small video mode where the object is to shoot the tie fighter scrolling across the display.

Scoring: Direct hits award 2M for the first ball, 3M for the second ball, and 4M for the third ball, whereas for misses it awards 200K, 300K or 400K, respectively.

Other: When launching an extra ball you have to rely on using the force to shoot the tie fighter (listen to the sound, usually shooting when hearing the” swoosh” will be a hit).

X-Wing Multi MillionHow to obtain: Force award

Scoring: You have 20 seconds to hit as many X-Wing targets as you can. The first hit awards 1M, second 2M, third 3M, etc.

Other: This mode can add up to some good points. However, the ball tends to get out of control when going for the targets. The easiest is the middle set to hit. Also, each time you hit a flipper you hear the sounds of the X-Wing cannon, and an X-Wing blowing up a tie fighter with each hit on the display.

Cantina: How to obtain: Force award, Yoda

Scoring: You have 16 seconds to hit as many targets as possible. Starting value of 5M, and a hit to anything adds 250K. The total is granted after the EOB Bonus and the multiplier has no effect.

Other: A good pop bumper romp will add up quick.

Million Pops How to obtain: Force award

Scoring: For the remainder of that ball, the pop bumpers will be lit for 100K a hit. Hitting all four poppers is an additional 1M. These points are awarded immediately and are not counted towards the Sarlacc value.

Other: Lighting Extra Ball may be awarded instead of points. This may cause the number increments above to slightly change. See Extra Ball for details on this self adjusting feature.

AT AT WalkersHow to obtain: Force award, Yoda

Scoring: You have 20 seconds to hit the pop bumpers 20 times for 30M.

Other: Display shows an AT AT Walker approached the Hoth base, and shots being fired with hits to the bumpers. Try to shoot the right orbit right away. In my opinion, this is one of the more challenging modes.

R2 Runaway How to obtain: Gain two C3P0 eyes, either through the inner orbit or Jabba’s bounty

Scoring: R2D2 will be lit for a countdown shot that starts at 15M and goes to zero. The playfield indicates that a right orbit shot will award the current value, but either outside orbit shot will do the same.

Super R2 RunawayHow to obtain: Force award (hidden)

Scoring: This is a countdown shot to R2 that starts at 50M and decreases by 10M. Again, the playfield indicates that a right orbit shot will award the current value, but either outside orbit shot will do the same.

Super Death Star How to obtain: Yoda, or force award (hidden)

Scoring: This is a countdown shot to the Death Star that starts at 50M and decreases by 5M.

STAR WARSHow to obtain: You start each ball with the letter S lit. All shots to the outside orbits or middle ramp will award one letter (including if the ball makes it to R2 on the initial ball launch). Right in-lane to left orbit awards two letters. Full STAR WARS spelling is also awarded via force award or Yoda.

Scoring: Spelling STAR WARS awards 10M points.

Hyper Space How to obtain: Clear drop targets three times (aided by Jabba’s bounty through the advance Hyper Space award), or by the force.

Scoring: Middle ramp will be lit for Hyper Space (5M points) and an EOB Bonus multiplier of 2X is awarded. Each time the drop targets are cleared before collecting the 5M, the EOB Bonus multiplier will go up 2X (up to 8X). 1M points are awarded if already at 8X. Once collected, Yoda will be lit. Also, collecting Hyper Space every third time in one game awards 10M instead of 5M, but does not lit Yoda.

Other: While Hyper Space itself may be a little on the skimpy side for points, lighting Yoda makes it worth the trouble.

Victory Lap How to obtain: Reaching the replay value if replay award is set to credit and free game limit has not been reached.

Scoring:You have 15 seconds to shoot either outside orbit shot to collect 25M.

Other: See Alternative Settings.

EmpireHow to obtain: Force award (hidden)

Scoring: Three ramp shots in 20 seconds awards 30M.

Extra BallHow to obtain: Light Extra Ball via specified number of ramp shots and collected via inner orbit shot. An extra ball may also be lit from the force, or awarded directly from Yoda (Special) or as a replay award – the latter two depending on game award settings.

Other: Every game after the first ten games following an audit reset, the ramp will self adjust in determining the number of ramp shots needed to light Extra Ball in order to align with the Extra Ball percentage parameter.

Dark SideHow to obtain: Shoot the force scoop when it is unlit.

Scoring:Four Dark Side shots award 25M.

Other: Cool lighting effects here and some classic Darth Vader lines. This is often overlooked, and may be too point heavy. If the machine you are on is easy to catch the ball after the scoop ejects it, repeatable shots here are possible.

Tri-BallHow to obtain: The first way is to spot eight moons by hitting the Death Star, which will open the Death Star for the remainder of the game. A shot then to the open Death Star will start Tri-Ball. The second way is to spot at least five moons and then lower the lever and push the launch button to open the Death Star (listen for “Death Star approaching”). This will automatically award 5M points. However, you now only have a limited time to follow up with a Death Star shot, or the moons all get reset to one. The time to do this depends on the number of lit moons – they will un-light one by one until zero are lit. The final way is to select ‘Tri-Ball’ from Yoda, or get ‘Tri-Ball ready’ from the force. This will open the Death Star as if you had spotted eight moons.

Scoring: One shot to the Death Star will light the 10M jackpot on the middle ramp. Any shot to the Death Star thereafter will increase the jackpot by 1M. After the jackpot is collected, the Death Star is open for a limited time (See Game Play Settings) for a super jackpot (2X jackpot). Whether or not the super jackpot was collected, the process begins again. However, the number of Death Star hits to light the jackpot increases by one and the jackpot increases 1M every time the cycle begins again. Depending on the game rules, a re-race may be presented if 2 balls drain (See Game Play Settings). If re-race is offered, a successful shot to the open Death Star will restart Tri- Ball.

Other: The music changes to different Star Wars theme music when obtaining the jackpot or super jackpot with an exciting opening and super jackpot animation.

Lighting the Re-LaunchHow to obtain: This is a self adjusting feature that is subject to change at the beginning of every ball. If the average ball time is higher than 50 seconds, you have to light Hyper Space followed by a left orbit shot. If Hyper Space is already lit, then only one bank of drop targets is needed to light the left orbit. If the average ball time is 50 seconds or lower, a left orbit shot is all that is needed. Fortunately, the re-launch is lit at the beginning of every ball.

Other: When the game is offering the ‘easy’ re-lit criteria, Super Laser Kick is available in the first set of force awards (along with Yoda and Cantina). When the game adjusts to the harder re-lit criteria, X-Wing Multi Millions replaces Super Laser Kick in the first set of force awards.

Storm Trooper Shootout How to obtain: Random

Scoring: Pressing the shooter button multiple times (or holding it down) will shoot all of the storm troopers and award 4M. You cannot stop shooting once you start or you will be awarded nothing.

Other: You don’t always have to go for this – it’s not worth draining over 4M. I like this mode as it adds that extra bit of strategy. Look for the red light above the shifter to let you know when you can start shooting – the first time this mode comes up you have to wait longer before you can start.

Jedi ReturnHow to obtain: Force award (hidden)

Scoring: You have 15 seconds to hit any lit red arrow (either orbit or force scoop) for 10M each.

SpecialHow to obtain: Yoda, force award (hidden), or replay award

Scoring: When the replay point amount is reached and the replay award is Special, then Special is lit and collected via either orbit shot where a credit is awarded. If the free game limit is reached and the extra ball limit is not, an extra ball is awarded immediately. Yoda and the force will award Special immediately whether it is a credit or extra ball.

YodaHow to obtain: Force award, or collecting Hyper Space

Scoring: You get to pick one of two offered awards. The possibilities are spelling STAR WARS, Cantina, AT AT Walkers, 20M, Tri-Ball, Super Death Star, or Special.

Other: Collecting Hyper Space every third time awards 10M points instead of 5M, and does not light Yoda. When Yoda is lit, the gain C3PO light will not be lit.

Speeder ModeHow to obtain: Speeder Mode is lit by hitting all five X-Wing targets, the force, or by Jabba’s bounty and collected via shooting the inner orbit.

Scoring: Automatic 10M Other: X-Mode is lit on the playfield, but it is actually Speeder Mode on the display. On top of that, Speeder Mode is a tease with no real interaction (use the fire button to make a shooting noise – multiple times to end the animation early). There is speculation as to why this once ‘video mode’ was cut from production – possibly a rights issue with ‘video mode’. Calling it Speeder Bonus would have been a better fit.

EOB Bonus How to obtain: Drain without tilting

Scoring: The EOB Bonus starts at 10K. A hit to any target / switch adds 7,500 (with the exception of the sling shots). This accumulated value times the multiplier is awarded.

Other: This never seems to add up too much, but at times a good long ball with a max multiplier is just what you need.

Scoring: Once lit, either out-lane will award 5M, 5.25M, 5.5M, 5.75M, 6M, 6.25M, 6.5M, or 6.75M. Doesn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason to which one it awards.

Other: To get the most out of this, combine with a Super Laser Kick.

Super Laser Kick How to obtain: Force award Scoring: Re-Launch remains lit for the remainder of the ball. Other: This is always a welcoming award, especially if Taun-Taun is lit.

Combo How to obtain: Inner orbit, to ramp, to left orbit

Scoring: 1M

Other: Sometimes it is hard to know if you got it, but you’ll hear a weird “whoom” sound and briefly see Luke and Leah on the display.

Super Combo How to obtain: Start with Combo, and end with a shot to the force scoop.

Scoring: An additional 5M

Other: This time, you’ll see Darth Vader and Luke on the screen. These combos are not documented or are hinted at in any way on the playfield – it took me a LONG time to figure these out.

Alternative Settings: Depending on the skill and preference of the players, opinions will definitely vary here. However, modifying the factory settings can significantly improve balance. I hope this section give you insight on how to modify settings to your liking. Please keep in mind this is geared more for free-play settings, although it could work for both. I prefer this game set initially on factory, but with the following adjustments: • Adj 46 Spot Death Star = Extra Hard • Adj 45 Save ramps = NO • Replay settings – see Victory Lap settings below With adj 46, any other setting will spot Death Star moons and guarantee a Tri-Ball opportunity on the 2nd or 3rd ball. When you actually have to work for a Tri-Ball opportunity, it will make the short cut gamble with the lever that much more appealing – adding a level of strategy. Save ramps set to ‘NO’ ensures that the number of ramp shots is not carried over to the next ball. The middle ramp is too important as it is. While these settings don’t solve all the balance issues, it certainly helps. Re-race is actually defaulted to ‘easy’ when using factory game rules. Thus, a Tri-Ball restart is available with a shot to the Death Star after 2 balls have drained, if no jackpot was scored.

Victory Lap Settings: Victory Lap is only available if the replay award is credit and you did not reach the free game limit. If credit is the replay award, and you have already reached the limit for free games, then an extra ball is awarded. One option is to set the replay award to credit, free game limit to 1, and the second replay to only be 25M higher than the first replay. Using these settings, the first replay is a chance to score 25M points, which will in turn award an extra ball from the second replay. If the Victory Lap is missed, the second replay will not give the chance for a Victory lap and simply award an extra ball (it is simply harder to get without making the Victory Lap). Experiment with what works for you.

Tip: If you are not a fan of repeated center ramp shots because it makes the game easy and repetitive – align the right flipper to point down a bit. This will dramatically change the way you play since repeated shots will be more difficult, and the left orbit and force shot will be less difficult.

Other Features: • Some may be surprised to know that there is a ball save on this game. However, it is not time-based. It is more point-based. If the ball does not go around the right orbit during the ball launch and goes straight between the flippers, Darth Vader will say ‘Freeze!’ and Han Solo will be on the display. An adjustable feature here would have been welcomed, but it’s better than nothing.

• Getting the ball into the sink hole where it normally feeds the ball to the habitrail after the inner orbit shot will trigger Han Solo saying ‘this is no cave’ and the ball will shoot up into the habitrail to the left flipper. While I wish this shot was more integrated into the game (at least give 1M points), it is a pretty clever reference and very fitting for the playfield art above.

• No Video Mode?! Many criticize this game for not having a video mode. However, between the opening skill shots, the Storm Trooper Shoot Out, and the notable interactive displays for modes such as X- Wing Multi Millions, Return of the Jedi, Yoda and AT ATs, I find there is plenty of 1992 dot matrix bliss.

• Skipping the intro – hold down either flipper button.

• Instruction card indicates a Hyper Bonus Countdown, however this feature does not appear to be in the game.

• There is a buy-in feature that will let the player start a new game with the points reset, while resuming all of the progress from the previous game. This is nice for beginners to see all the force awards and other modes this game offers.

Closing Comments:Overall I truly enjoy this game. The modes are fun with great animation and sounds. The art is spectacular and it seems like you can consistently find new things on the play field. There are a few aspects of the game that I wish were adjustable, and the abovementioned lack of certain features, but all in all it’s a remarkable pin. Hope you enjoy this guide and can get more out of the game from it.

i've always stayed away from this game because it always seemed like the center shot just did alot and i was unaware of such balancing adjustments. you've found a few adjustments that seem to level the game out nicely. i shall look into getting this game more now. great story!

Wow Thokennedy - I recall seeing this long ago when I was first looking at getting a SW DE. Now that I have one, I just reread your story and there is a wealth of knowledge in there. Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences and insight. As a SW fan, I am ready enjoying the game and loving some of the quotes! I'll be tweaking the settings as you suggest and sering if I can get a few of the soundbites you mention above that I haven't come across yet.